This invention relates to a method and device for affecting the behavior of lobsters.
Lobster fishing is an important industry. In the United States, the total landed catch of spiny lobsters averages 9 million pounds per year. The import of spiny lobsters averages 87 million pounds per year. Fishermen have attempted to use scents (cowhide soaked in diesel fuel or motor oil on the trap, for example) to attract lobsters. However, these scent attractors are environmentally unfriendly and only attract lobsters located downstream of the scent source.
It is known that the behavior of many fish and marine mammals is affected by sounds in the aquatic environment. For example, dolphins are believed to be repelled by killer whale sounds. Fish are believed to be attracted to sounds of other fish striking and eating bait fish. These behavioral effects can be used by fishermen to affect the behavior of fish or marine mammals. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,349,774 and 5,291,682 suggest playing killer whale sounds near tuna nets causes dolphins to leave the area and results in fewer dolphins being caught in nets. U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,178 suggests that playing the sound of a bass fish striking and eating a bait fish attracts other bass fish. Fishing lures for game fish have been described that play sounds that are believed to attract fish (U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,891).
While it is known that fish and dolphins make and respond to sounds, it was not known that lobsters make sounds until very recently, and the purpose of these sounds is under debate. It has been suggested that the rasps lobsters make when attacked by predators were defensive in order to deter the predator (Patek, S. “Spiny lobsters stick and slip to make sound” Nature (2001) 153). The lobster used in the research described above were captured in the Florida Keys and provided to Patek by Charles F. Shaffer/Keys Marine Research Institute/John Swanson. However, lobster sounds have also been reported to be agitative to lobsters when played back (Stocker, M. “Fish, Mollusks and other Sea Animals, and the Impact of Anthropogenic Noise in the Marine Acoustical Environment” Michael Stocker Associates for Earth Island Institute (March 2002) 1-30).
There is a need in the art for a method of affecting the behavior of lobsters and other marine animals using sound, and also for providing a method of creating positive taxis of lobsters and other marine animals (reflex movement to a source of stimulation).
Deposits of the acoustic signals were made with the United States Copyright Office on Feb. 13, 2003 and are incorporated by reference.